A New Start!

After much consideration...(and weight gain ~ 20lbs!)...I've decided to get back into the running game. I haven't run much since Christmas. This hiatus was due to an unfortunate combination of a very, very busy school program (the IT course) and a major lack of motivation. Well we all know what happened to the IT course and now that the school year (read: job) is winding down I think it's time to get back in the saddle. Pictured above are my great new shoes...NIKE LUNARGLIDE +2...size 9 (if you're curious!). I have a very willing running partner now as well, her name...HALEY! TO motivate my daily running I've signed up for the Imagine Run it's a half marathon (21.1km).

I've started the Running Room training plan (half marathon target time 2hours), on tap for this week:

Saturday: 6km (done)
Sunday: 0
Monday: 4km
Tuesday: 4km
Wednesday: 4km
Thursday: 5km
Friday: 0
Saturday: 9km

It's kind of funny, I look at the half marathon plan and think to myself - piece of cake! The last training plan I was on for last years full marathon was brutal...the bulk of the long runs were 25km+...my longest run on the half-mary program will only be about 20km! So these "short" runs are a welcome treat. I figure that with my fitness loss the past couple of months it should take me about 3 weeks to build up to my previous speed. I did today's 6km in 38 minutes...it usually should only take me about 35 minutes.

Poor old GPS...complete with teeth marks courtesy of Haley!

On a negative note: Haley ate my Garmin Fore Runner GPS watch over the winter. As a result I'll I think I'll be doing much of my training with my heart rate monitor...old school!!

I received my latest essay marks late this week:
English: B+ (79%....one percent away from an "A", c'mon!!!)
History: B (74%) 

I was hoping for an "A" on the English paper so I'm a little disappointed with the "B+". The History paper on the other hand was much more difficult...so all things considered I'm OK with the "B"...of course I would like a higher mark, but given the stringent criteria required to get an "A" in Dr. Perrun's class, a "B" is very, very good.

Also be on the look out for the debut of my son's blog posts. It will be a weekly chronicle of his summer adventures! He has decided to name it: "Carter's Crazy Train!" under the banner of:

It should be interesting...not sure if I'll let go of the "parental controls" too much!

See you next time!
SC

Oh my, have ever I fallen behind!

Blue Shirts represent Brain Tumour Survivors (that's me in the orange hat)!

bus·y:

[biz-ee]   

adjective, bus·i·er, bus·i·est, verb, bus·ied, bus·y·ing.

–adjective

 

1. actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime: busy with her work.

2. not at leisure; otherwise engaged: He couldn't see any visitors because he was busy.

3. full of or characterized by activity: a busy life.

4. (of a telephone line) in use by a party or parties and not immediately accessible.

5. officious; meddlesome; prying.

6. ornate, disparate, or clashing in design or colors; cluttered with small, unharmonious details; fussy: The rug is too busy for this room.

 I have been all of that...and more. Let's see this past week I had:

1. a history paper due (Topic: What did the Seigniorial System do for Canada, and what did it not do?)
2. an English paper due (my Topic choice: Compare and contrast the voice of Gwendolynne Brooks' "We Real Cool" and Thomas Hardy's "The Ruined Maid". Who is the speaker and what does it make the reader, see, feel, think etc, etc, etc!) 
3. History seminar summary due (summary of 5 in-class discussion questions)
4. the Spring Sprint on Sunday
5. Oh ya, it was also my Birthday!

Life has a funny way of slowing you down even if you can't do it yourself. As adults we take on many roles, we wear many hats, we over extend ourselves and not understand why we feel like crap some mornings. If you stop to listen that "feeling" is your body saying: "slow down there big fella". Well, some of us can listen to that inner voice, some cannot. I'm one who has trouble listening to the little voice. So, in an unfortunate twist of fate, a higher power decided to slow our lives down for us. Carter has been sick all week. As an adult it's easy to ignore signs and symptoms of exhaustion, but when one of your little chidlins becomes ill, all bets are off. It forces you to slow down, take time off, put things aside and take care of the most important thing! The doc says he thinks it's just a "virus"...code word for "I have no clue!" (don't get me wrong our doc ids the best, we love him, but sometimes even they just don't know!) So, as a result of this short pause in life, I'm able to get back ahead of the game and little Chudley gets to drink litre upon litre of Gatorade!

 

The Spring Sprint:

This is a walk/run event that I'm involved with in support of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. We managed to raise just over $46,000 this year! It goes without saying I'm very, very proud to be part of the organizing committee that came together to pull this one off! I hope that we can retain all our committee members moving forward. We had 9 tremendous people involved this year. Unlike last year, I actually felt relatively calm before the event! 

What's up next? 

My courses at U of M continue until the end of July. Carter, Jackie and I are planning on playing a ton of golf this year. (with the Spring Sprint out of the way...we can focus weekends on that, yeehaa) I am sneaking up on some minor projects around the house as well. This year on my short list are:

1. ceiling hung storage for the garage
2. a walk way from our front sidewalk to our back gate at the side of our house 
3. paint the shed in the backyard
4. become a good golfer...again
5. Play some golf tournaments
6. Paint the basement ceiling white, before I finish the drywall
7. finish the drywall (maybe next summer!)
8. I think I'd like to be a runner...so start running!!

It feels strange not to be feeling the pangs of nervousness I've felt the past 3 years as the Manitoba Marathon looms large on the horizon! It's almost comical to see the people in our area hitting the pavement on "training runs" getting the old body ready for the super run, the 10k, the relay,  etc...people you never see all year out there..."training"! Then, once they cross the finish line, they fall back into the obscurity and comfort of their vehicles, warm with the glow that they "ran the marathon, sort of!" I need to start running again...I'm getting way to sarcastic!